Dark and Cold

We came from all over, gathered for one purpose. To retrieve the Shivering stone from the ruined remains of Serac. Friend Zerox, my lord Shonto Matoru, and a stalwart axeman named Ohdinn the Axe.

Taking a portal from the abandoned mine to the bustling town of Qalaba'r was the easy part. Once there we met up with a mage of great power and started the run to the vault.

"You're going the WRONG WAY!', someone shouted. Laughing we reversed our direction and sprinted back the way we came.

Soon the snowy mountains were under our feet, running not stopping for anything, we zigged and zagged, spells and Mattekar horns nipping health at every step. I being a bit burdened didn't want to jump down a cliff and risk breaking my leg or worse, so I swept northward and became separated from my party.

Dodging near invisible boulders from the raiders who have taken up residence in that area I made my way to the vault entrance and waited for the others. Soon they arrived and we all began preparing ourselves for the battle.

The mage, whose name was Themor, said he would go in and clear the entrance and we should follow in a few minutes. I tried to tell him that I could help and indeed wanted to, but he paid us no heed. Within seconds we got the message that he was dead!

Saddened we debated on what to do. Themor wasn't coming back, could 3 melee's and an archer push through to the stone? The cold must have addled our minds (or at least mine) because we decided to go in and try.

As I coalesced I heard the sounds of battle, drawing my flaming sword I charged in. There was a lich lord and a Revanent assaulting my companions, focusing on the decayed Revanent I managed to turn his attention to me. In retrospect this wasn't a good idea. Once he saw that I had the means to hurt him severely he abandoned his weak punching attacks and began to cast a series of spells that took me to within inches of my life before I managed to sever his rotting head from the tattered bones of his body.

Drinking some health potions and quickly binding my wounds I heard the distinct sound of several of my items of armor and jewelry running out of mana! There wasn't time to recharge as 2 more lich lords had entered the room. So I charged into the thick of things once more. Again in retrospect this wasn't a good idea.

The lich lord I was fighting must have sensed that I had no lightning protection because he proceeded to cast no less than 3 lightning bolts of incredible power right in a row, not giving me any time to heal. In seconds my body lay in the vault and I was viewing the grasslands of Eastham.

On my run back to Arwic I sensed that Zerox had died as well, but my patron told me it was a most heroic death indeed. Zerox was fighting FOUR lich lords at once and was holding his own! We knew we needed help if we were going to retrieve our bodies.

Upon entering the hub I shouted out our need of assistance and a warrior of impressive stature stepped up.  "I'm Rogue Bullgod", he said, "and I'll help you, lead on!"  In the meantime Zerox was enlisting the help of Lady Kandice, and Shonto was calling for our great leader Fafhrd.

After a few mishaps getting to the vault, like getting stuck on a peak, dodging Lugian raiders, getting stuck some more, falling off a cliff. We made it back and began waiting for the others to arrive. Ohdinn the Axe was first, followed closely by Fafhrd. Soon Shonto arrived and with him was Zerox and the Lady Kandice. We had only to wait on Druuna and Uriquay Faith and we were set. With everyone there we began buffing and preparing once again, however Druuna was standing too close to the portal and fell in! We all entered quickly and began once again to dismember and immolate the undead denizens of Serac.

With our jumping and coordination skills augmented by magic, soon we were all up on the walkway and headed for the room with the stone.

The guardians of the stone lasted mere seconds against the force of our assault, though in truth I was so drained from my encounters that I was only hitting very weakly and it was our friends who were actually killing them.

Everyone who wanted one got a Shivering stone, and soon we portaled out to chat a bit before once again going our separate ways.

Someday I would like to see what other secrets that frigid vault holds, but that will have to wait. I hear that Jahannen vault can warm these tired bones